Teachers and students are shocked that a song of a sexual nature was used for a listening exercise in a year 12 German language exam.

The exam, held across the country last week, included the song Relativ by German group Wise Guys.

It included the lyrics (translated to English) “You are nicer than my neighbour and I expect in bed, I could do with you relatively much”.

Some students were so perplexed by the song they left the exam in tears while others reacted by laughing in disbelief, two German teachers who have complained to NZQA said.

Warwick Gibbs, a German teacher with 40 years experience and who has marked national papers in the past, says the song was inappropriate for his students because of the sexual nature of the lyrics and that a song was used instead of spoken text.

He has never come across a song in an exam and says it is a contrast with the NZQA standard which asked students to “demonstrate understanding of a variety of German spoken texts on familiar matters”.

“Since when was spoken texts a song?”

Students were asked to write what the song was about and to describe the man and woman mentioned in the lyrics.

Another German teacher, who did not want to be named, said students were asked for the inferred meaning which could have resulted in answers such as “she must be good at dancing, because when she dances it makes him hot” or “he likes to watch her, so maybe she’s a stripper”.

It was “totally inappropriate” for year 12 students, she said.

“It also sounded as if it had been recorded in a fish bowl; the echoing was so great that I even found it difficult to hear.”

She listened to it three times and still couldn’t understand all of what was said.